To simply say that the White Cliffs of Dover are made of chalk would miss the point of Life at the Edge of Sight: A Photographic Exploration of the Microbial World. The chalk giving the famous cliffs their white appearance was formed from the exoskeletons of plated marine microbes called coccolithophores.

Huntington D. Lambert Named Continuing Education Dean

Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) dean Michael D. Smith has
announced that Huntington D. Lambert will become the next dean of Harvard's
Division of Continuing Education (DCE). Lambert will succeed Michael Shinagel, who
informed colleagues in September that he planned to step down after leading
DCE since 1975.

“I am deeply grateful to the members of the search advisory
committee who have worked tirelessly for nearly two years to bring this search
to such a positive conclusion,” Smith said in an e-mailed statement. “I would
also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the singular legacy of Dean
Michael Shinagel. His nearly 40 years as dean of the Division of Continuing
Education have created the strong foundation upon which we build our vision for
the future of this exciting and important part of the FAS.”

Lambert, described by Smith as a “bold innovator who possesses
the rare combination of a strategic business sensibility and a true commitment
to our academic mission,” will focus on continuing DCE’s commitment to learning
and teaching and aim to further extend that reach online (the extension school
already offers about 200 online courses of various sorts), partnering with HarvardX
to enlarge the University’s digital footprint. His formal appointment begins on
April 29.

Lambert comes to Harvard from Colorado State University
(CSU), where he currently leads the Division of Continuing Education that serves
more than 10,000 students annually. Smith cited his proven record there of improving
program quality as well as building strong partnerships with faculty and
university leadership.

Before he joined CSU’s continuing-education division,
Lambert was a founder and interim CEO of the Colorado State University Global
Campus, an all-online public university within the CSU system that now serves more
than 6,000 students. As one of the four founding members of that new venture, he
helped develop its strategy, business plan, and operations plan and was
involved in all aspects of planning, strategy, board approvals, startup, legal
authority approval, and independent accreditation, according to Smith. He also
founded the CSU Entrepreneurship Center and the CSU Office of Economic
Development, and was involved in the startup of 15 companies from the CSU
research labs, including Envirofit.org (a nonprofit agency that develops
technology to reduce pollution and enhance energy efficiency) and Solix
Biofuels.

Lambert—who received his bachelor's degree from Colorado
College in 1980 and a master's of science in management degree from the MIT
Sloan School of Management in 1984—earlier was executive director of strategy for
US WEST International in its London office, executive director of market strategy
development at US West Strategic Marketing, and president of the consulting
division of The Knowledge Webb.

“DCE has long been on the front lines of Harvard's efforts
to harness the power of technology to educate learners across the nation and
around the globe, while also using technology to improve pedagogy in the
classroom,” Dean Smith said in his statement. “At this exciting moment, when technology
and education are combining in new and important ways here at Harvard, [Hunt] Lambert's experience and track record of success are particularly welcome.”